01.24.05

Short of George Steinbrenner buying a 2nd franchise, could there be any more influential event in the recent escalation of player salaries than the Mets’ hiring of Omar Minaya? If the Baltimore Sun’s Roch Kubatko is to be believed, New York’s offer to Carlos Delgado has now hit $50 million over 4 years, outbidding the lucrative pacts proposed thus far by Florida and Baltimore. And coming from the perspective of Delgado and agent David Sloane, this makes perfect sense ; if the Mets had to overpay for Kris Benson, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran, why should Delgado accept a discount?

I got this link of the Preston School of Industry website. Omar Minaya better pray that he is able to sign Carlos Delgado. As good as Beltran can be, by himself he will not be enough to bring back to life an offense that was tied for 14th in NL batting average, 12th in NL runs scored, and 14th in NL on-base percentage. Unlike when he was in Houston, without another threat in the New York line-up, NL pitchers can pitch around Beltran. Once losses start to pile up and the New York media chimes in, Omar Minaya will be two for two in crippling organizations with ridiculous contracts.